Recovery
by Innocent Silver Orbs
Summary: In this OC fanfiction, Luna has a little brother, named Charles, who is tortured by Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor, over the time they spend in Shell Cottage, Hermione comforts and bonds with Charles as she helps him recover from depression.
1. Pain

CHAPTER ONE

Prologue: In this fanfic, Luna Lovegood has a little brother named Charles or Charlie who is in his second year at Hogwarts. He was captured with Luna and was kept in Malfoy Manor until Dobby rescued them. The first chapter will be told from his perspective, while the others will alternate between Ron, Harry, and Hermione… And don't worry (LOL), this fanfic is totally clean.

CHAPTER 1: Pain (Charles)

I heard the door close and a bang echoed through the dark, cold dungeon. "I'm scared" I whimper and I hug Luna, my older sister. "Everything will be ok", she said in an uncertain voice. But I doubted her… I knew something bad would happen. I sat down and shivered when I heard You-Know-Who say "The boy knows something we don't…". Cringing, I prepared myself for what I knew was coming. "BRING THE YOUNG ONE!" Bellatrix barked in a fit of rage. Peter then opened the dungeon door and pointed his wand at me, "get over here", he said. Slowly, I stood up and walked toward him, as I walked I saw the terrified look on Luna's face. When I arose from the dungeon, I was shivering. I saw all three Malfoys peering at me. As if that wasn't enough, Bellatrix, a legion of Death Eaters, and 'He who shall not be named" were staring right through me.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Bellatrix screamed angrily "Nothing I swear!" I pleaded, knowing that it was a lie. "Bring the girl" Lucius Malfoy plainly said. "Not Luna!" I begged, "We're not talking about that filthy girl, you brat," blurted one of the Death Eaters in the most disparaging way. "Get out your wand" said "You-Know-Who". I did as he said, with an extreme feeling of dread as they brought a girl with black hair and blue eyes out of the back room. "Kill her or tell the secret" said "You-Know-Who". "NEVER!" I yelled nobly. His face turned to rage. "NOW!" he said, as he hit me with a spell I did not recognize.

Suddenly, my entire body went numb. I could barely stand up when I started to hear "Kill her" in my head over and over again. I resisted his control until I could finally move again. "THE BOY RESISTS", Bellatrix screeched as she stomped her feet. She whispered something…."CRUCIO!" As she yelled this, a curse hit me. I fell over, screaming, crying; every piece of my body felt as though I was being slowly stabbed with millions of white-hot knives. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Draco Malfoy cringe and back away from the shaking mass that was me. The entire time, I could hear Luna screaming and crying for my mercy. The pain stopped…"Stop it!", Draco said sincerely "HE'S JUST A KID!" he yelled empathetically. "ENOUGH WITH THAT, DRACO" yelled Father Malfoy as he used his cane to hit his son over the head.

This entire time I was lying on the floor, trying desperately not to vomit, as my head hurt and my entire body felt dead. Suddenly, Bellatrix Lestrange got right above and looked into my eyes; I looked away but she held my chin toward her face with her hand. "COWARD" she yelled "FACE YOUR FEARS!" In response to this, I closed my eyes. Suddenly my left forearm began stinging painfully…I could feel letters being scratched onto my skin, I whimpered "please" but my vocal chords didn't seem to work. This continued on for 30 seconds until she got up, blood dripping from her hand. "You-Know-Who" was laughing maniacally. I looked at my forearm and saw the word "COWARD" scratched into a bleeding, carved wound. I tried to get up, until I heard someone yell "CRUCIO" and once again my entire body was filled with that familiar pain. This went on for at least a minute until everyone in the house heard a knock on the door. "Get him out of here!" Bellatrix beckoned. Peter Pettigrew then levitated me back into the dungeon where I faded out of consciousness.


	2. Escape

CHAPTER TWO

I apologize if this is not completely accurate with the Malfoy Manor chapter.

CHAPTER 2: Fear (Harry)

Harry was pushed into the dungeon by Peter, he rubbed his deformed faced where he saw a crying Luna, Ollivander, Griphook, and an Unconcious Charles. "What happened Luna?" I asked in a comforting tone. "It's Charlie!" she said while sobbing "They tortured him!". "Bloody Hell, he's just a boy" Ron said, we walked over to where he lay and saw that he had a terrified expression on his face. "Where's Hermione" Luna asked, now a little calmer. "I don't know?" Ron beckoned "Harry what do you think they're doing to her?" "Hopefully not what they did to Charles" I said. Hermione screamed. Harry sat there, practically crying, being forced to listen to Hermione's screams "WHAT DID YOU TAKE" Bellatrix yelled. "Nothing!" Hermione explained. Suddenly, Dobby the house elf apparated into the dungeon. "Dobby?" "What are you doing here!" Dobby explained that he came to save Harry Potter and his friends. After Dobby had told them the plan he apparated away with Luna, Ollivander, and Dean. "Dammit, he forget Charles…" Ron said angrily. "Whatever" I said "We'll take him out of the dungeon with us. Seconds later, Peter Pettigrew appeared at the door of the dungeon. "What was that noise" he said in an aggravated voice, Harry then noticed that the curse Hermione cast on his face had worn off. Peter looked at Harry and realized who it was, he then ran up to Harry and strangled him with his artificial arm. "Peter, are you going to kill me? After I saved you life?" he immediately released his grip. "C'mon" I said as Ron lifted the Unconcious Charles and draped him over his back. We walked up into the main room to see everyone looking at us. "Expelliarmus!" Ron yelled as he disarmed Bellatrix who was asking Griphook about the sword of Gryffindor. Everything happened so fast… the Dark Lord was summoned by Bellatrix, Dobby dropped a Chandelier on Bellatrix and disarmed Narcissa Malfoy, Harry wrestled Draco for his wand, and the wands of Harry and Ron. They then apparated away as Dobby was struck with Bellatrix's knife.


	3. Empathy

Chapter 3: Empathy (Hermione)

We were on a beach. Ron had an Unconcious Charles on his back, and was comforting me. Harry was holding a dead Dobby, and Luna was comforting him. "I want to bury him, the right way, no magic" As Harry was mourning everyone injured was rushed inside. Ron led me up to a room that Bill & Fleur ,who were living at Shell Cottage, supplied. I slept for a couple of hours, and then awoke to see Ron watching me sleep. "Awake, are we?" he said in a sweet voice. "Yeah" I said, slightly half-asleep. "What happened with Charles?" I said, remembering the adorable kid I met last year in Fred & George's shop. "He was tortured by Bellatrix" Ron said sadly. Trying to think of how any human being could torture a Twelve year-old, a single tear fell from my eye and hit my pillow. "I know" Ron said "He's too bloody young to be a part of all this". I thought for a minute and said "I'm going to go visit him" as I got up and walked out of the room. I went down to the kitchen, where Fleur was preparing dinner, "Which room is Charles'?" I asked, she then led me to a room with a small, square doorknob. I knocked on the door and heard a struggled "Come in" I opened the door to see Charles, who had messy light blonde hair, gray eyes, and a chiseled chin, in his pajamas, sitting with his legs crossed on the windowsill, looking out the window and stroking the small, blue PygmyPuff he bought the day I met him. "What's his name?" I asked as I sat down next to him. "Leonardo" he said in a broken voice that was usually dreamy and full of haze. He looked at me and forced a smile, his eyes, which usually had a faint twinkle, looked hopeless and full of pain. He looked away and back out towards the ocean. "Can I see him?" I asked politely. He said nothing but instead quickly handed me the small, round creature. I stroked its blue hair and looked into its light blue eyes then slowly handed it back to him. "How did you get him here?" I asked. "I snuck him into my pocket before they captured us" he said in a depressed tone. "That was brave" I said in an admirable tone, "Thanks" he said, his voice full of angst. "I just knew he would die unless I brought him" he said in a nervous, sad voice. I desperately wanted to talk about the subject of torture and try to cheer him up, but I knew it wasn't time. I left the room, knowing he wanted to be alone.

At dinnertime, when Charles was still in his room, Luna asked me if she would help me bring him a plate. "Sure" I said while I scooped some food onto a plate and poured a glass of pumpkin juice. I carried the food up the stairs, and Luna knocked on the door. "Who is it" he said "Luna and Hermione" Luna chimed. "Come in" he said. He was still sitting on the windowsill looking out the window. "We brought you some food" I said in a motherly tone. "No thanks" he said in a depressed voice, "Charles, please, you haven't eaten all day!" Luna begged "No" he repeated. "It's for your own good" I said in the same motherly tone. "Fine" he said, slightly mad, I walked over to him and set down the plate and the glass. He picked up the fork and struggled with the steak, "Here, let me help you" I said as I grabbed his knife and fork and cut the steak for him. He then quickly ate everything on the plate and drank the pumpkin juice in one go. "Do you want some more?" Luna said dreamily, "No" he said quickly, "Ok" she said in an upset voice.

When we were out of the room I asked her why Charles only seems to open up to me, "He's told me you remind him of our dead mother" Luna said in a nervous tone. "Oh" I said "I'm sorry for your loss", she looked me in the eyes and said "It's okay, it was much worse for Charles since he was only five when she died.", the thought of this made me even sadder.


	4. Nightmares

CHAPTER 4: Nightmares (Still Hermione)

I awoke to screaming. I looked around, got up, and headed out the door. In the hall I bumped into Luna, who was running at a fast pace. "Who's screaming?" I asked in a concerned tone "I don't know, but I think it's Charles!" she hastily explained. Sure enough, when we opened the room to his door he was shivering violently, screaming, tears coming from his eyes. Luna then began silently sobbing as she sat down on the bed, waked him, and tried to comfort him. She hugged him and whispered words into his ear, this however, did not calm him. "Here, I'll try" I said uncertainly, I sat on the bed and Luna stood up. I grabbed him, put his head on my shoulder, and rubbed his back in gentle soothing circles. At first, he seemed uncomfortable because he barely knew me, but eventually he accepted the comfort. Slowly, he shivered less and less violently until he completely fell asleep.

"I'll make some tea" I said as we closed his door, I walked down into the kitchen, found a kettle, poured in some water, added chamomile leaves and put it on the stove. I walked into the pantry, found a small tin of biscuits and put a few onto a small plate. Luna who was waiting at the table was still silently crying. I sat down, "Sorry about that, he's had occasional night terrors ever since mom died" she said sadly "It's quite alright" I explained "I just hope he's okay" "The only person who could ever calm him down was dad" Luna explained. "Hermione?" she said unsurely, "What?" I asked, trying to cheer her up "I need your help" she said, still sobbing, "Charles clearly has depression, and I think the only person that can make him feel better is you..." "What do you mean?" I asked "You remind him of mom, and your the only other person he knows who's been tortured by Bellatrix" she said in the most hopeful tone. "So what do you want me to do?" I asked "Please just spend time with him and try to help him get over the torture" she begged. Our conversation was interrupted by the squealing of the tea kettle. I got up and poured two small cups of tea and grabbed the biscuits I had arranged earlier. I set down the tea and biscuits and sat down. I sipped a bit of my tea and said "I will" "Really?" Luna chimed. I simply nodded. "Thank you!" Luna yelled. The rest of the extremely late tea time was spent silently sipping and crunching.


	5. Understanding

Chapter 5: Understanding (Ron)

"He has depression" Hermione said sadly, as they sat at the breakfast table. Over the past few days, the three had barely talked. Harry was busy with planning, Hermione was trying to recover from the torture, and Ron was spending time helping Bill. "Who?" I asked curiously, she looked down and said "Charles,". There was silence for a minute, "How do you know?" Harry said in a concerned tone. "Well…" Hermione muttered "Last night he had a night terror and I had to calm him down" she paused. "And the other day he said he didn't feel like eating." She thought for a moment. "And it's fairly obvious, considering his mother died when he was five, and he was tortured by Bellatrix." she said plainly. My stomach growled, I got up, headed in the kitchen and heated up some of the leftover steak with my wand.

"Why is it you're always eating?" she asked, sounding rather annoyed. "This is serious" she said "I need to figure out how to make Charles happy" she frowned. Inbetween bites of steak I muttered "Terk tuh huum" Hermione glared at me "What?" she said, rather puzzled. "Talk to him" I repeated while swallowing, "About what?" she asked "The torture." I explained. She stared blankly. "The thing is, it's really hard to get him to open up" she said, disappointed "Just give him some candy, that always opened me up" I said, remembering my old fondness of chocolate frog cards. "And if all else fails, show him your scar." Harry said plainly. Hermione instantly looked down at her arm. I got up, sat next to her and put my arm around her back. "I'm sorry" I muttered in a depressed tone. A tear fell from my eyes into her hair. I smelled her hair, and got lost in the faint scent of jasmine and fresh parchment. "Ron." Hermione said, "Do you have any sweets" I awoke from the trance "I think so, let me go check" I went up into my room to check my bag. I looked through every pocket until I found a small stash of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I grabbed two of each and headed back downstairs. When I got down to the living room I saw Hermione standing, looking out the window at Charles, who was sitting on the beach looking down at the sand.

"Here" I said, handing her the candy. "I hope he's ok" she said, her expression blank. I hugged her "He's not" I said "But you can make him better."


	6. Waves

Chapter 6: Waves (Hermione)

Charles was alone, sitting on the beach, gazing at out at the waves. I cherished the warmth of the sweet smelling air as I walked outside and sat down next to him. I dug my toes into the chill sand, "Hi" I said in a happy tone. He was preoccupied with examining a small shell, "Hi" he said in a plain tone. I looked at his terrified and sad silver eyes,"What's going on?" I asked "Why are you out here?", he looked up at me and tightened his expression a bit "Nothing" he said, slightly hesitating. I looked into his eyes "I brought you something" I said, smiling. I pulled the chocolate frog out of my pocket and held it out in front of him. "Thanks" he said, forcing a smile. I had never seen a child not light up at the mention of candy. He quickly grabbed the sweet and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Charles?" I said, remembering why I came over to him, "What?" he said, sounding annoyed. "Can we talk about the torture?" as soon as I finished speaking, he flinched and starting shivering. He looked at me, his lip quivering, tears threatening to prickle from his eyes. He turned away and ignored me for a couple of minutes. To try to calm him I apologized and rubbed his back in circles, he slowly calmed until he began to examine the same, small, shell. I held out my right forearm, the one with the word "MUDBLOOD" scratched bloodily into it. He looked over and his face twitched with shock.

"You were tortured too?" he asked. I simply nodded and said "Now will you tell me what happened?". He simply nodded and strained his eyes in painful recollection and thought. "After we were put into the cell, You Know Who knew I knew something he didn't" he said depressingly. "What do you know?" I asked, hoping it was something useful. "That's the thing, I don't remember…" he said in a guilty tone.

Realizing how important that information was I urged him to go on. "So Peter took me out of the dungeon where everyone was eagerly staring at me." Remembering how packed the room was a image flashed through my mind. "Bellatrix then ordered me to speak, but I refused" I thought of the evil witch known as Bellatrix as I felt a surge of sympathy. "So they brought a muggle girl out and ordered me to kill her." my eyes widened, wondering how any person could order a 12 year old to murder. "I refused, and then they hit me with a curse I didn't recognize." "What curse?" I asked. "I don't know, all I can remember was my entire body going numb." "The Imperius curse." I said, "It puts you under their control." I explained. "He kept telling me in my head to kill her, but I resisted and it stopped." surprised at how a kid could resist the Imperius curse I told him to go on. "Then Bellatrix yelled and hit with an extremely painful curse…" I then realized the sheer amount of tears falling down my face. "Draco Malfoy cringed and stopped her." surprised at how Malfoy had some mercy I made a mental note to remember to tell Harry that. "Then she got on top of me and did this" he held out his scar. I noticed he was silently sobbing. "Then they used the Cruciatus Curse on me for about a minute" I was stunned.

No person, ever, had survived the curse that long. I was too baffled to speak. "Im so sorry" I said, crying more then he was.

"Its ok." he reassured.

"NO ITS NOT!" I yelled, as a surge of motherly sympathy went throughout my body.

He put his arms around my back like it was the most important thing in the world.

"Lets not worry about it now" I said as I put my emotions in check. "Why don't you open the frog?" I said, smiling and wiping the tears of my face.

"Okay" he said, and for the first time in a while, I saw a look of pure happiness dawn on his face.

He opened the candy and the frogged jumped straight into the air. With lightning fast reflexes he grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. When he was done eating the sweet, he started uncontrollably giggling.

"What it is it?" I asked, smiling at the sound of laughter.

"Uric the Oddball!" he said in-between giggles.

I couldn't help but laugh at the odd wizard with the octopus on his head.

The sound of an incredibly strong wave interrupted the giggling. I was able to get up in time, but unfortunately, Charles was not. The instant the freezing water hit his body he stopped giggling and started shivering.

"Here" I said handing him a blanket I had pulled out of my bag. I also grabbed the jar of fire and used a charm to make it slightly bigger and warmer.

We chatted until it got dark and then headed inside.


End file.
